Rain largesse this month-end

A low-pressure trough originating from the northwest Bay of Bengal is expected to trigger moderate and widespread rainfall in Jharkhand in the next 48 hours.

The largesse is likely to drag down the average statewide deficit that stood at 14 per cent on Tuesday.

“The low-pressure trough is moving in a north-westerly direction. This will result in rainfall in the state. Areas in the south, which includes the Singhbhum region, will get a good spell during the next 48 hours,” said B.K. Mandal, the director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre.

The senior weather official said that an associated cyclonic circulation extending upto the mid-tropospheric level had formed over Jharkhand and its neighbourhood owing to the impact of low pressure.

The axis of the monsoon trough is passing through Bikaner, Pilani, Gwalior, Ambikapur and Sambalpur, and is extending upto the east central Bay of Bengal.

The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore, Calcutta, also forecast moderate rain in Jharkhand in the next couple of days. “The circulation is resulting in heavy moisture incursion into the atmosphere,” said an official.

He added that the distribution of rainfall was expected to be uniform, but ruled out possibility of heavy showers.

Weathermen at the IMD’s Patna office too said that the conditions were favourable for shower show across Jharkhand for the next few days.

On Tuesday, overcast conditions prevailed at many places including Ranchi and Jamshedpur. The steel city and its adjoining areas witnessed intermittent rainfall.

The weather office in Jamshedpur recorded 7mm, while the IMD observatory in Ranchi read 7.8mm. Reports of rainfall also poured in from Chaibasa and Chakradharpur in West Singhbhum, as well as Khunti, Ramgarh and Seraikela-Kharsawan.

Tuesday’s Met data showed a 14 per cent deficit as against a normal of 515.8mm, the state had received 441.8mm.

Garhwa still tops the rain-loss list with 58 per cent, followed by Lohardaga and Simdega, where the deficit stands at 48 per cent. Ranchi is lagging by 43 per cent and Palamau 39 per cent. The other deficit districts are Latehar (32 per cent), Dhanbad and Chatra (both 30 per cent) and Ramgarh (26 per cent),

The surplus districts include Deoghar (33 per cent), West Singhbhum (31 per cent), Koderma (19 per cent), Pakur (18 per cent) and East Singhbhum (4 per cent).